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The Wyoming Valley has had some close encounters with wildlife as of late.

There was a bear roaming Hazleton, and deer running amok in a Plymouth flower shop.

Travis Lau, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said that while both cases are bizarre, they are generally uncommon.

On July 7, the entire Hazleton City Police Department were on the scene of a 500-pound black bear that casually made its way through town before he was tranquilized.

Lau explained that male bears in the state typically make their homesteads about 14 miles from where they were born — females, on the other hand, usually stick to where they were born.

There tend to be more bear sightings at this time of the year, Lau said, because yearling bears are moving out of their homestead. It also happens to be the bears’ mating season.

“There’s a lot of bear activity at this time,” Lau said. “You think of the activities that are associated with the breeding season of any wildlife, and there are competitions for individual females.”

Lau did note, however, that a 500-pound bear wandering through a populated city is out of the ordinary.

“That is more unusual of a case,” he said. “I don’t know that we have an answer there.”

Dashing through the glass

This time of the year is also an active time for deer.

A pair of deer smashed through a window of the Flowers and … shop during the evening of July 3, where they smashed displays and merchandise trying to escape.

Lau explained that fawns are tagging along with their mothers, which means more deer will be seen out and about.

Deer are also more canny when it comes to living in close proximity to people.

“With deer, unlike bear, deer are very adaptable and can live their entire lives, for the most part, in habitat that bumps right up against homes and other areas that are associated with people,” Lau said.

When they cross into human territory, however, is when things can get chaotic.

“When deer get into residential areas, when they get into commercial areas into commercial areas in particular, they are known to make a lot of bad decisions,” Lau said.

He explained that, like birds, deer do not identify windows as an obstacle — instead, they just run into them, which adds to their fear and stress levels.

Susan Gryziec, co-owner of the Flowers And … shop, saw the results of those bad decisions firsthand.

Glass shards littered the carpeted floor and the broken windows were boarded up in the immediate aftermath of the deer intrusion.

Now, the repairs are still underway.

Gryziec said that she has ordered tempered glass for new windows for the shop as opposed to the double-paned windows that were used before.

“The glass will be here for years to come,” she said.

She anticipated that it would be about two weeks until the windows are installed. That might not be the end of the repairs needed at the shop.

“We have to wait to see what else, and once they go to put the windows in, what else they’re going to encounter,” Gryziec said.

Despite the repairs, business has forged on full steam ahead for the flower ship.

Gryziec said this is the busy wedding season for the shop — that, she said, is the store’s focus.

“Business comes first, and the repairs will follow,” she said.

Keeping bears away

Food, according to Lau, is the big incentive for bears to linger in to populated areas.

Bird feeders and open trash containers were two food sources that Lau said bears tend to flock to in populated areas

“We would urge those people to clean up those areas and remove those food sources,” Lau said.

Lau also said that bears should be avoided if they do wander into residential areas. In case of an encounter, Lau stressed residents should avoid running from the animal and should give it the chance to leave on its own.

“If that bear does not leave right away, if that bear makes a popping sound with its jaw … that’s your signal to get out of there,” Lau said.

Lau also said those that find themselves in an emergency with any wildlife should call 911 — otherwise, people can report pest bears or other wildlife directly to the Game Commission.

Sue Gryziec one of the owners of the Flowers And… shop on West Main Street in Plymouth cleans up glass inside her shop after two deer busted through the front window, causing much damage inside the store.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL07xx15animals.jpg.optimal.jpgSue Gryziec one of the owners of the Flowers And… shop on West Main Street in Plymouth cleans up glass inside her shop after two deer busted through the front window, causing much damage inside the store. Clark Van Orden | Times Leader

By Travis Kellar

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Contact the Game Commission

If you need to report a nuisance bear or other wildlife, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northeast Region can be contacted at 570-675-1143 or 570-675-1144.

Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews